Xander's Chance

She had the opportunity to search his room again, only it was impossible to find anything with the dark. The moment she stepped foot in his room again, he spoke again.

"It's not in there."

She wanted to scream. How could he know for certain what she sought? Was this another of his games? Did he have some sort of camera installed?

She searched the hallway with her eyes and saw nothing. Of course, she wasn't able to tell what he had in the bedroom.

"Laurencio sent me a mock up of the cover pic last night," Xander called. "I saved it as the background on the iPad. You should check it out."

She rolled her eyes, uninterested in having such a blatant reminder of Toni's perfect body. No doubt Xander appreciated the half-nude woman on his iPad, but Jessi didn't. Determined to swap it out for a picture of a horse or something bland, Jessi poured herself another cup of coffee and snatched the iPad, settling on the couch within view of the porch. She turned on the device and waited, uttering a cry of dismay when she saw the background.

It wasn't Toni on the cover. It was her. Jessi stared at the picture, a chill working through her. The cover was partially complete, with a few areas marked along one side and the bottom as being reserved for additional stories. The picture itself rendered her speechless.

It was hot. Or would be, if it was someone else pinned beneath the beefy vampire.

"They can't print this!" she protested finally.

"It's sexy."

"It's horrible!"

"Laurencio says it's getting good feedback online."

"It's online?" she exclaimed. "I didn't… how the hell …" She almost threw the iPad. "Don't they need my permission to do that?"

"You signed a release form."

"No, I didn't."

"Pretty sure you did, April." He glanced over his shoulder at her.

Jessi closed her mouth.

"It goes to print next week," he added, clearly pleased.

"Can you fix this?" she demanded. She rose and strode to the entrance of the porch.

"Fix it?" he echoed.

"Tell him not to print it."

"Yes, but I won't."

"You bit me, Xander! I don't want that moment immortalized, the only thing the world ever knows about me, that some sadistic man-whore with rabies bit me on the beach."

"I don't have rabies." He laughed. Sensing she was only encouraging him not to do what she wanted, she sought some other reason.

"It's a horrible pic of me," she added. "I look … like some teenager after she's been kissed for the first time."

"You're the envy of every woman who watches my show." He reached back to grab the iPad and clicked the picture open. "I posted it on my site after he sent it last night and checked the forums this morning."